The Man From The Sky
by natedog731
Summary: A boy looking for adventure falls out of the sky during the vault hunter's everyday lives, but what he brings with him could shift the balance of Pandora's playfield. (Disc:I don't Own Borderlands, or the Characters). M for comical nudity, violence and romance later in.
1. Garret

Garret

The mellow azure from thousands of distant stars illuminated the pitch darkness that enveloped a large room through a small glass port, giving way to the shapes and outlines of yellow crates and unidentified cargo tightly packed about in fashion. A pale face emerged into the shaft of light, eyes only half opened and a slight frown upon, giving way to form a silent yawn.

Garret ruffled his short brown hair as he retreated back into his nook between two crates, gently rubbing the muck out of his eyes and wiping away a layer of slick oil and sweat on his face with a paper towel. He was awake now. Clenching and unclenching both of his fists, he peered back out of the port and spotted a large H staring back him. It floated in front of the pastel grey moon with an attitude of sinful pride, as if it were an obnoxious guardian among the stars. Garret turned away from his view as the port slipped closed. Staying silent as he clipped on a dulled metal plate to his grey vest, disturbing the tactical pockets for the 3 weapon SDU's he had managed to scrounge from the locked armoire of the Atlas ship.

Atlas it was, but the company no longer existed due to ignorant spending and bankruptcy. Instead, the ship belonged to freelancers, in Garrets case, couriers. In this instance, they were not pirates, but neither were they a charity, as the young man had already witnessed another, less skilled stowaway being mercilessly thrown out the airlock soon after leaving the Eden system. In the meantime of weeklong journey, Garret had found himself a place to sleep and a container of Hotties; self-heating food packs to keep him content.

Unfortunately, Garret knew he was in trouble if anyone caught him sleeping, as he had to trade the only gun he had to persuade the customs officers to let him into the ship at Hera. Armed with just a push dagger he had looted off the stiff body of a deceased mugger in one of the capital's dark alleyways. _16 and already a killer_ thought Garret as he unbuckled his belt and unzipped his brown cargo pants, letting loose a stream of refreshment onto the floor below his level, much to a sanitization bot's confusion.  
_What a time to be Alive_.

After consuming a hottie and stuffing some more packages into his cargo pockets, the boy pulled himself up into the catwalks of the ship, his biceps stretching his black T-Shirt as the rest of him slipped up. Garret kneeled silently, watching a group of men playing cards at a wooden table below, foreign and out of place in a space ship of this class. More flexing ensued out of Garret as he stretched himself accordingly. He was no bodybuilder, but simply fit, hardened by fighting for his life in many cases, and escaping from even more.

The calm hum of the reactors that reverberated throughout the ship was interrupted by heaving static, then a groggy voice to break the silence.

"Attention all hands. We, will be entering Pandora's orbit in less than 15!" The grogginess cleared up as the voice shifted to a sterner tone, becoming much more direct. "We are here to drop off a multitude of low grade supplies, and that's it. I don't want anything more to do with this hell hole that any of you do, so unload, and get the hell out."

_Ah._

Pandora.

The boy did not fully contemplate why he came to one of the more dangerous planets available to him in the solar system. Maybe it was to get away from the loan sharks that turned from his late father to him, or maybe to take up that mine inheritance his estranged uncle had passed onto him, or more about the heavy presence of Eridium flowing out of the planet like water out of a tap. _Nevertheless_ argued Garret,

_I'm here now_.

As the filthy planet edged closer to the forward viewport, a heavy surge of energy overcame the boy, pleasing him greatly afterwards. More and more surges came, causing Garret to breathe heavily as he sat against the railing of the catwalk, the sound of lifting and clanking in the cargo bay muffling any possibility of locating his presence. He stood back up at the sound of crashing and rattling, heart pumping and ready to move. The young man leaned over the edge of the catwalk to gaze upon a spilt case of rifles, "Jacobs" read the side of the box, and a man quickly putting them back in place before any authority walked through the door. Much to his relief, the first mate stepped through, adorning filthy green overalls and a checklist in one hand. Inspecting the workers as they finished loading the Orbital platform full of equipment, the blonde tapped the checklist a multitude of times, scanning lazily over the pallet of cargo.

The bald man who had spilt the crate of guns was holding the lid of the case and inspecting it, attempting to figure out how to jam it back on as he brushed his red trousers off. The checkered green shirt did nothing to hide his exhaustion as he simply threw it back on, much to the amusement of the first mate, his head of dirty blonde hair shaking as they laughed. "eh. Fuck 'em Pandorans, should've learnt by now to go 'an fuck off to a different system".

The rest of the crew mused at the statement as they all trotted to the doors of the bridge, completely caught off guard by the red lights and sirens that shattered the air and turned the room the color of blood.

"Fucki-"muttered the first mate before a panicked captain blared over the speakers, filling Garrets ears with annoyance "ALL HANDS TO GUNNERY STATIONS". At that the crew scrambled through the doors, leaving the room alone with Garret and the unnecessarily loud alarm. The boy himself leapt off the catwalk and hit the deck softly with his boots, rolling towards the crates of weapons. At his touch, a small bin opened, revealing a few units of Universal Assault Rounds, ready to be digitized into a wide variety of magazines. Midway through pocketing them, the PA blared again, but with a more unexpected cause "FUCK ALL, BRACE FOR IMPACT".

Garret quickly snatched a handle of the cargo load, moments before a large explosion impacted the ship, leaving a hole in the starboard side the size of a car. The air and anything not bolted down was sucked through the gaping hole before a green shield covered the hole, popping the lad's ears. "Groah fuck…" muttered Garret, before the PA activated again "…nd that's not even the bi…st gun on this thing!" it was background noise from a com between the captain and someone else, someone sounding really douche in Garret's head. More explosions rocked the ship, the first one knocking out the Inertia dampeners by the way everything rocked violently in the bay, and the last taking out the gravity. "We're gonna' slingshot out 'round this bloody planet 'n get the hell out!"

Garret was thrown back over the cargo as someone put the boosters to full, leaving him face first in the box of Jacob's. "Fucking.." the boy muttered again before another explosion slowed the ship and put it back into zero G. Garret floated off of the pallet, grasping at the shiny metal rifle that floated by his face first, then at anything that could give him leverage in the environment. Before he could reach the ceiling or catwalk, the bridge doors popped open to reveal the bruised bald crewman, his face which was shocked and angry to see Garret. "First it's Hyperion, now Stowaways!? Out the fucking airlock with you!"

The boy hesitated as the middle aged man flew at him from the floor, making a beeline straight to punch him in the head. As the sturdy hand got closer, Garret calmed and unsheathed the push Dagger from under his chest plate, its dark metal invisible to the crewman under the red lights. Garret lashed out with his left and grabbed the man's right arm before trading places and slamming him into the ceiling while the boy drifted towards the cloud of floating rifles below. The man could only grunt in response, experience reminding him to stay quiet during a brawl, staying focused instead.

Meanwhile garret planted both of his feet onto the floor and hung onto a handle, bending his knees just in case he needed to fly into an alternative part of the room, while his other hand aimed a rifle at the surprised crewman.

Nothing.

The gun was fucking empty! Garret instead threw it at the man before pushing off towards the door, hoping to slip into the armoire. Out of nowhere the bald crewman tackled him, tumbling around the bay as Garret writhed, trying to get an arm out for defense. The PA blasted again, this time with less panic.

"We don't have escape pods..."

Ignoring the statement, Garret flung one arm out and walloped the bloke in the jaw before striking him in the gut with his Push Dagger, the fellow grunting harder as Garret kicked off of him, towards the guns again, remembering ammo in his pocket. More rumbling embraced the ship as garret snapped his head to a viewport, orange and red light shining through. "Shitshitshit. were burning up like a fucking meteor" muttered the teenager. Garret changed his view back to the worker, who was now charging him, a trail of blood floating through the air like a tether.

Cocking back the rifle, Garret took aim at the shining head of them man, ready to put a round in the surprised faces as blinding white light engulfed the other half of the bay, catching him off guard. The boy covered his eyes as his personal shield sparked on, saving a bit of air for him too. The light resided, leaving behind the stars and a cloud of ash, along with a great view of an icy area of Pandora.

Garret was thrown out of the remaining half of the ship as it began to skip along the atmosphere like a rock on water. With no alternative, he stuck his clenched fist out down towards his feet, and with a burst of cobalt energy, a globular shield formed under it. Garret gawked in awe at his now shadowy metallic hand, before turning to more pressing matters as additional atmosphere burned around him.

Planting both brown boots on the shield, he adopted a power stance before enveloping himself with a sphere of the energy as the cold ground quickly came to meet him.


	2. Arrival

Arrival

A large roar snapped across Three Horns, alerting a trio of vault hunters who were currently plodding up to the fast travel for Sanctuary. Both Maya and Lilith stiffened irregularly at the newfound presence on Pandora, while Gaige simply surveyed in awe at the blinding streak of sapphire light break the sound barrier overhead. Another burst signaled that it had landed not too far from their spot.

Lilith broke the silence with her exhausted tone. "Well, uh, yeah you two should go see what that was, cuz I am a bit TOO out of it to go BACK out there. Zero and Axton might be out there also, so go com them up or something if you want attention." The siren continued her dreary trudge up to the terminal, groaning with each step as Maya nodded and pulled up her Echo, patching through the commando and assassin. "Guy's, yup, Lilith wants to check what that thing was that popped out of the sky. You up for it? Echo says its right inside bandit central. Same place where we got the power core... Worth a look I guess?"

Zero simply texted a thumbs up over his link before the boom of his sniper filled the feed and cut out. Axton on the other hand was attempting to say yes over the sound of his turret unloading into some madman with a laser gun going all willy-nilly, but after a few the Siren confirmed. "Alright I'll meet you two at the hanging anchor when you're done whatever. Maya out." As the sapphire holo disappeared, the view of Gaige doing donuts in the powdery snow with a bright pink buggy, laughing her heart out replaced it. "Weird feeling I'm getting from that impact. Couldn't be Eridium, so we better hope it's not Jack's new toy, or we're going to need all the help we can get" cautioned Maya as she hopped eagerly into Gaige's rocket turret. The duo drove off in a cloud of snow, managing to run over a helpless Skag pup on the way.

Elsewhere Garret Groaned heavily as he gradually awoke, feeling tremendously sore over his entire figure. "Fahuuuck me…" he muttered as his dull grey eyes popped open, only to reflect the Gargantuan purple H and the pale moon behind it. A thick snow was already falling as the teen sat up, but fell back down as a shattering discomfort emerged from his left arm. He looked at it intently as he deduced the possibility of fracture. "I did just surf in from space" the boy chuckled as he stood again carefully and stepped out of the large crater he had made "That's pretty dope".

The immutable pain in his arm grew worse as the crumbly snow flattened beneath his feet while trudging forward, causing him to grit his teeth in pain. Garret's distress was paused as his foot hit something hard in the white snow. Looking down, the lifeless bodies of three topless masked men lay in the snow, a fourth man wearing armour in the middle, all full of cuts and wounds. Garret puzzled over the beaten Crimson lance armour and the masked men before kneeling down and removing the soldier's Vambraces and pauldrons. The shoulder guards clicked onto the vest effortlessly while getting an arm guard to hold his limb in place was more of a painful challenge. After some work, and the broken arm bound tightly into place with some strips of cloth from the bodies, the boy set off again, down past two abnormally hefty tusks and right into the presence of a Blood thirsty psycho. The masked maniac simply stared at the teen before laughing and revving his axe with a sense of horrid bloodlust. Garret skipped back bewildered as the man, like those dead in the snow, charged him fervently while shrieking gibberish.

With no gun, Garret stood his ground and concentrated hard hoping to channel his powers again, as the psycho closed the distance. Much to the boy's delight, another surge of energy overcame him as his fist turned to a texture of sooty crystalline metal, crackling as it clenched harder. As the madman reared his weapon with a delusional laughter, Garret swung out with a dynamite punch, impacting the psycho in the chest and liquefying his upper torso as the sound barrier broke, blowing his hair back and blasting the snow clean off the jagged rocks surrounding them, only to be covered in bandit blood.

Garret calmed and inspected his handiwork, and his hand, which reverted back to its Caucasian state in a wave of colour. "I can justify this" reasoned the boy before turning around the rocks and spotting a jagged metal gate along with some sheds, houses and shipping containers. "Better hope they're friendly" he muttered.

_Welcome to Pandora_

Far off, the green dot of a scope hovered over the boy's skull like a fly, a hairpin away from pulling the trigger. Zero lay silently inside of a Bullymong nest, its previous occupant clogging up the rest of the nest with a shining sword through its head. "Broken his arm is/Yet much power with steel/He is unguided yes?" stated zero, giving everyone below a live feed of his scope over the Echo.

Maya held a confused frown as she brandished her Smg, Gaige and Axton awing in unison over the liquid bandit. "Well. At least he kills bandits. And where he's walking into is not a very smart place for a fight." Reasoned Maya, as the other two saved the recording and cocked their weapons. "At least he's got armor" added Axton, prepping his turret. Zero leapt out of his hidey hole and sheathed his sword before pulling out a very phat Jacobs's revolver from his SDU, knocking the hammer back. The band set off through the field with pace as gunfire began to erupt out of the settlement. "I wonder if he likes robots?" asked Gaige before embarking.

"Whaaaaaaaaaaat the fuuuuuuuuckkkkkkkkk" Garret whispered to himself heavily as he leapt into one of the sheds on the ice cliff. Scrambling for cover, more gunfire bounced off and through the shed, leaving small holes for light to shine through on a stack of crates. "Boxes! What's in the boxes?" pondered the young man as he hurriedly revealed piles of money and ammo. "Awwwwww, All this fucking ammo and no gun?!" He roared. Shamefully pocketing the loot into his SDU, the lad concentrated on channeling his arm again. All he got in return was a wave of dizziness and extreme fatigue that nearly knocked him out. "Out of juice?" muttered the boy, recovering with heavy breaths.

"We're comin for ya GRINDER!" bellowed a marauder, unloading his Smg into the bleak surrounding of the rusty shed. "Man these guys have shit aim." Came across Garret's mind before more firing erupted. The boy peaked out as the bandits formed a group and scuttled forward, a hail of gunfire with them. As he cautioned back, two barrels caught him by surprise, even more so than the midget wielding them.

With no time to think, Garret seized the barrel and pointed it through the door he peeked out of, firing in the process. The blast blew away the teen's shield generator into a mess of scrap, and the psycho who had just rounded the corner out of the doorway, painting the shed behind it red. Quickly, the youth ripped the shotgun from the midget and delivered a hard kick, launching the tiny person off the side of the cliff with a light squeal. With no time to waste, he unloaded the rest of the magazine out the window to the crowd of unsuspecting bandits. Shrieks and cries rang out, followed by the weapon being blasted out of his hands, prompting the young man to curse.

"Fuckers..."

That was it for Garret, unsheathing the push dagger from his vest. He turned the corner of the door way and leapt forward, sinking his blade into the eye socket of a bloodied hulk of a Nomad before launching off and pinning the torso of a horrified marauder to the ground, repeatedly striking it in the throat and piercing his jugular.

The semi blinded nomad spun around, still clutching his rusted red Bandit machine gun and fired unintentionally into the remaining crowd of bandits, ripping those off guard into pieces. Rapidly, Garret snatched the Smg from the gurgling marauder dying under him and unloaded it into the knee of the nomad. The joint burst with a sickening gore as the nomad roared, falling onto it, incapable of standing anymore. On its way to the ground, Garret grabbed the bandit's head and shoved his knife right into the spot under the man's ear, killing the brute instantly and causing copious amount of blood to spray out. Exasperated and pissed off, he grabbed the machine gun and began to unload the rest of the clip into the bandit's still writhing on the ground, turning much of the dirt and snow into a cerise muck.

The muteness of the snowy overhang came as the last rounds of the rifle Garret wielded excelled into the skull of a limping psycho, the shot and splatter echoing around the settlement. The body of the nomad laid still as the teen sat on top of it, tired from using his power and what he's been forced to do in the mere half hour he's been on the planet. "These twits…" he muttered, his eyes beginning to close as more snow fell.

Before Garret could pass out, more yelling arose, bandit's pouring out of the doorways and houses of the settlement. The teen leapt back and took cover behind the nomad's body, blood splattering over his frame as a salvo of rounds hit the corpse. He was almost out, any second and he was going to konk, leaving himself exposed to the elements and worse.

Above all the chaos, a single shot jolted Garret out of his drowsiness, a deafeningly loud one at that. A smoke trail leading from the missing head of a nomad to a black creature sitting on the rocks by the gate, holding a really big gun caught Garret's attention. Then an orb of blue spawned in the middle of the settlement, pulling in all the bandits from their cover while missiles and heavy MG fire filled the air from atop one of the cliffs. Throughout the mess, a gleeful laughter continued, one very close. Garret was curious, and no way in hell would he die before he could see who was laughing in the middle of a massacre.

Peeking his brown hair and grey eyes out, he spotted a fairly young girl, near his age, emptying a Maliwan full of fire into the singularity of bandits, charring them into a putrid ash as her laughter turned to embarrassing snorts. Beside her stood a purple siren, from what Garret could tell from the tattoos, releasing the phase lock to scatter the ashes while the 4 fingered ninja approached, the large rifle slung to his back instead of storing it in the SDU by his waist. Axton was off retrieving his turret while the 3 checked the surroundings for anything else that needed shooting.

At last the two women lowered their guard and began to approach Garret, who at the moment was standing limply, sheathing a dropped pistol under the plate on his vest.

"Whoa kiddo, sure looking like shit" commented an enthusiastic Gaige, Maya still pointing her rifle sternly at him.

The kiddo looked up and gave a slight grin to Gaige, checking over his bullet wounds. "Garret."

Maya and Gaige both spoke their names before moving to help the stumbling boy, but In-between them, up on a catwalk stood a single angry nomad, with a very large tube on his shoulders. The lad's eyes widened as he grabbed both girls very hard by the pair of two most easily graspable things in front of him. Maya shrieked as Gaige moaned heavily, both of them clinging onto his arms as he pulled them apart from the impending disaster between them by their breasts. The hiss of the rocket filled the air as it left the red tube, the smoke trail leading directly to the teen.

_Shit_

Garret was too tired to move himself, but released the girls and pulled out the pistol from under his vest, taking aim and letting loose a slug into the nomads helmet with a jingle before being hit square in the chest by the rocket dud, hurling him through the bullet torn shed and off the side of the icy cliff, much to everyone's horror.

* * *

First FanF, got really bored during summer so heres some fun!

Thanks.


	3. Drink

A Drink

The frigid water slapped heavily as Garret's body broke the surface of the sea, the ocean around him turning crimson as he began to sink into the depths. Comforting warmth emerged from his pockets, reminding him of the opened food that was likely mushed inside.

_Shiite_

With only a few seconds of consciousness left, Garret gazed upwards through the reddening water to see a hulking machine descending after him, a single eye and many jagged edges breaking the surface.

_Bah. Fuck it._

Garret passed out as Deathtrap scooped him out of the blue sea, floating back up to the party on the cliff. Axton was bewildered over how the teen had made the lucky shot into the nomad's head while zero only displayed curiosity for the boy with a question mark. Gaige sat on her knees, expectedly awaiting Deathtrap's catch. She piped up "boy, I hope he's still working… he did just take a rocket to the chest."

"Yeah, shame if he died" Added Axton, poking at the Nomad corpse with his Torgue rifle.

"mmh, And he was cute too."

Maya was unsure of the teen's fate as Gaige's minion brought him up, small shards of ice already forming on his clothes. Multiple wounds were bleeding profusely as she removed the dud rocket from the plate on his chest. Blood started to seep through the plate as Axton stabbed him in the leg with a Stim.

"Ah, Gaige he needs to get back to sanctuary, Can your droid fly him?" questioned Maya.

Gaige glanced at Maya before hopping in to the arms of the bot, hugging onto Garret and wiping off specs of frost that had already formed.

"Yeah, I'll get him to Z, see you there!" At that, Deathtrap hovered off towards Sanctuary while the rest of the team looted the war torn settlement's chests, seeing if there was anything of value before driving off.

Garret returned to consciousness shortly during the flight, heavy warmth enveloping his head. His eyes fluttered open, focusing on the majestic aurora borealis in the darkened sky, before glancing forward to realize half of his head was buried in Gaige's bosom. He groaned lightly as the throbbing in his chest came into effect, catching the girl's whole-hearted attention. "Awake already? Sure took a beating, flying off cliffs and all didn't 'cha?" The teen could only groan more as he nestled his head deeper into her breasts, inciting a light murmur from Gaige. He passed out again.

The crushing adult shifted slightly, giving Garret more comfort as they passed through the Shield dome with a blip. Lilith was already waiting in front of Scooters Garage, gazing expectantly at the hovering trio. "Woahoaho this dude popped out of the sky?" questioned Lilith loudly as Gaige hopped out and left the injured in Deathtrap's arms.

"This kid sure is the stuff, Got powers and everything!" exclaimed the Mechromancer, slamming open the door to Zed's clinic.

Currently reading an article on E-tech, sat the doctor, his equipment sterilised and ready for once. He glanced up at the wacky group and raised a questioning eyebrow, before deathtrap laid a beaten body onto the table.

Gaige announced her presence with a yell "DOC! We have an injured Man-Siren here!"

The good Zed did a double take at the body before looking back at the Girls. "Freakin- Did this kid fall out of the sky or something? He's beat worse than Sal after his fight with Bad Maw!"

Lilith responded accordingly while Gaige de-spawned Deathtrap

"Yes."

The good ex-practitioner nearly blew up before flinging his hands in the air and muttering

"Guh. I've seen worse, but this is a first" The gent activated the sanitizer lamp above the bed and began to inspect the pierced chest plate, before clipping off the shoulder pauldrons.

"Rocket dud huh? Won't kill im, but this metal aint made for protectin, not a military grade for sure. Now help me Pull it off, meanwhile, Gaige you get those trousers off, they're full of blood that probably aint his."

Lilith helped the dock pull off the trapezoid-like plate with a sloppy squelch, exposing the gaping cavity.

"Bone damage and tissue for sure... Both lungs are fine by the looks of it, heart's normal" commented the doc, looking at an X-Ray and statistics on the board above.

He left the table to rummage in the back room, clinking and clanking emanating from the tile floors while Lilith cut off the rest of the shirt and vest and tossed it into a bin, save the plate. Gaige hesitated a bit after sliding off the cargo pants, unsure what to do about the bloodied briefs standing in the way of total nudity.

The doc returned with a syringe in hand and a metal capsule full of a glossy red substance. He looked at the briefs and Gaige before sighing and grabbing a pair of scissors.

"Jee whiz, you aint never seen a willy?" Gaige turned a tomato red as the pair of briefs was thrown into the bloodied trash bin, exposing Garret fully to the world of Pandora.

"Huh, kids a horse" chuckled the doc as he locked the canister into place on the lamp above them and injected him full of drugs.

Lilith blushed slightly while Gaige another shade until she had to sit down to keep steady, incapable of taking her eyes of the first non-hostile dong she's ever seen up close. Sure there were plenty of Images and videos on the net, or even the odd psycho trying to use it like a sword, but this was completely different from any other experience. Her view was cut off as Ned Brought up a shield over the bed, starting the sanitization process.

"Alright, alright you kids, why don't you go out and buy him some clothes or something, be a shame for him to walk out here butt nekkid. I'll send you his sizes over th' Echo... Unless you got a good enough look?"

After some light pushing, the two were out on the street again, still dark with the ominous H gazing over all of them.

"We'll, why don't we just head to sublevel and visit the markets? Gotta be a tailor or something down there" commanded Lilith, Gaige still reeling over her encounter of the penis-kind. The two girls stumbled off while Zed got to work with the hefty Nano-Surgery.

The three male vault hunters sat at Moxxi's bar, discussing the day's events over a bottle of Salvador's moonshine and a few cups Rakk Ale, Axton taking great interest in the liquor while Zero simply stuck a straw through a port in the mask to consume his ale. The Gunzerker's heavy laugh filled the bar as Axton Retold the story of the Garret falling out of the sky, explaining in detail of how he liquefied a bandit at the speed of sound and trudged right into their settlement. Zero only confirmed the story with emoji's on his mask as the tall drinks he ordered zipped up the straw.

Both of the ladies entered the establishment, garnering a wink from Moxxi as they seated themselves along with a box of Clothes for Garret.

"Hooooo… Long day Huh?" questioned Lilith, garnering an agreeable vibe from everyone at the table. "Maya?"

"Showering" replied Axton, tossing back a shot of moonshine before Grimacing heavily.

Salvador could only chuckle as he downed half a cup's worth in one go, much to Lilith's enjoyment.

"Alright Gaige why don't you go bring that stuff to Garret before he's running around town naked like Salvador on Christmas."

More laughter at the table ensued as Gaige hefted the box of clothes they had digitized from the shops below.

As the Mechromancer opened the door to the clinic, Maya had beaten her to it and was already in the process of blushing to a fully naked Garret. His awkward face lit up as he saw Gaige carrying the box of clothes in, but frowned again as he realized he still was sitting naked on the bed. The Mechromancer paused and gaped at the scene, before the awkward silence was broken by a cough. "You gonna spend all day staring or am I going to have to walk over there to put them on?"

Maya rushed out embarrassingly while Gaige turned red again, handing him his clothes shakily. "Thanks." Garret turned sideways and slid on his new briefs and Cargo pants, which were now dark grey in style.

"New duds? Sweet."

He slipped on the dark blue Shirt, but opted to leave the red vest off for now.

"Chest still hurts a bit. I'll just hold onto this for now."

He picked up the cleaned metal plate from the counter and put it in the box with his vest along with the pauldrons and vambraces, groaning as he stepped forward in his new black boots. Gaige instinctively slipped under his arm and supported him, grabbing onto his muscled frame. She blushed a bit more as he wrapped his good arm around her slender waist, the other one, in a minimal cast to heal, holding the box of gear. Garret whistled at the doc, who shook his head slightly, and looked at Gaige questioningly

"Where to?"

The duo stopped by the headquarters to drop off the box with a busied Tannis, and hobbled over to the bar where they met with a drunken Axton and Maya with the De-activated Zero in his corner. Lilith was tipsy but fine, yet Salvador could only laugh as he painfully shook Garret's LEFT hand, subconsciously making him squeeze his right, which was still holding onto Gaige's waist. She squeaked as he let go and sat down slowly, even more sore after the surgery and tissue reconstruction.

"Boy. Didn't expect this out of Pandora. First getting blown out of space, attacked by bandits, rocket to the chest. Awesome."

Gaige snorted amusingly at his comment, giving a beet-red Maya a glance every second or two.

Nonchalantly, Salvador refilled everybody's cup and pulled out two extra green bottles from under the table. The first one wasn't even half empty.

Garret did not even ask for a cup. He simply grabbed the two-litre bottle and downed the rest of it, Salvador laughing his head off in the process. Gaige stared wide eyed at the process, amazed by the youth's courage. Axton and Maya cheered at the performance before downing theirs too and grimacing. Garret cleaned the bottle and put it down, letting out a breath of alcoholic fumes.

"Hoo that is the shit" spouted Garret while grimacing, Gaige becoming nauseous over the wafting whiskey odour.

She opted to down her shot too, even though she was a "Noob" at alcohol. The burn caused her to react not unlike Maya and Axton, but with a stronger Grimace.

Lilith chuckled.

"You bet gringo, home brewn in scooter's garage, made from the finest ingredients my home has to offer!" Piped Sal, pouring himself another cup.

As Lilith downed her next shot, she pulled out her Revolver and slammed it on the counter, shocking everybody at the table.

"Alright, New game kiddo. Who are you, and why did you fall out of the sky?" demanded Lilith, a hardly noticeable drunken slur ending her sentence.

Garret puzzled as he recalled his life history, trying to form a short explanation as the barrel of the gun stared him down.

"Someone gave me a will to a mine, I'm tired of running, this planet is full of Eridium, and that big fucking H cut my Ship in half" reasoned the youth. A questioning look came across Lilith's face as the rest of the Vault hunters took notice in the story.

"So, then how did you fall out of the sk-Wait, How old are you kid?" Lilith interrupted, piquing everyone's curiosity again, Gaige's more so than anybody else.

Garret looked at the curious faces before taking another shot, grimacing lightly.

"young enough to be called a 'child soldier'."

The tables occupants sat back in shock, Zero still passed out in his corner. Gaige frowned heavily over her underage crush as Salvador muttered "Hijole…"

Lilith holstered her weapon quickly before the rest of the bar turned silent. She spoke up, grabbing everyone's attention.

"jee. You really are a kid. Anyone ever tell you ya look older than you really are?"

Garret shrugged before giving a short "Plenty of times", downing his cup again.

"Born and raised on an earth farm. Spent 2 years as a child soldier on Promethia by accident when I was 13, and jumped ship to Eden-5 as a thief."

Gaige snapped her head to Garret's statement, piqued by the mention of her home world. "E5? You were there?"

Lilith frowned at Gaige for her question, looking intently at the boy "Wow. A Kid from Promethia. Must've been pretty shit over there from what I hear"

Shrugging off the glances Garret flipped his glass cup, much to Sal's disappointment.

"Yeahyeah, Promethia the shithole, but anyways, enough from me, I want to know what the deal is with you guys, and that thing that blew me out of the sky."

Axton was happy to oblige, yelling "VAULT HUNTER" before passing out on Zero, who mildly groaned before falling back asleep.

Salvador quickly gave him the scoop in his thick Spanish accent, Lilith interrupting when needed, which was more often than not. At the end Gaige had already fallen asleep on Garrett's shoulder, snoring away.

"So, Hyperion got a new twat of a president who like big H's, intending on activating alien WMD's that could end the world. Cool."

Lilith gave him a thumbs-up before readjusting her seat, opting to sit against a sluggish and red-faced Maya rather than on a barrel at the end of the table. Feeling tired, Salvador stalked off to his room after saying his goodbyes, lugging the empty bottles that clinked together with each step.

Now, in a more drunken state, Garret spoke up "So… where should I crash for my stay here?"

At that, Lilith put on a smile, leaning down to the table "Heres a deal. You join us in the fight, and I offer you the benefit of being my friend, and a spot in Gaige's room."

A suddenly awake Gaige protested at the deal. "Hey! What?!"

"Deal" Agreed the youth before scooting the annoyed Mechromancer out of her spot, Lilith chuckling at the ordeal.

"Now show me the way Gaige."

Back at the young Vault Hunter's room, Gaige grumbled slightly as she strode through the door, Garret inspecting the aspects of the room and an overview through a frosting window of a snowing Sanctuary. Multitudes of random posters and finely detailed blueprints lined the grey metal walls, a computer and plenty of spare parts sat on a desk idly in the corner, while a wooden door to the bathroom lingered open.

"Well, you make yourself comfortable Rookie, I'm gonna wash up" stated the miss.

Gaige popped off her sneakers and goggles, as well as a long rod from her arm, placing it all onto the bed. She began to wind her sore shoulder as her other hand undid her Band-Aid and hair-ties.

"Thanks" murmured Garret, inspecting some of the blue prints on the wall, ones of Deathtrap and upgrades.

As the boy snacked on a Pemento-Pementaco from the mini-fridge underneath the desk, a silvery glint of Gaige's weapon belt caught his eye. Lying on the bed with the rest of her junk sat the multiple SDU's, all waiting to be popped open. He picked one up and tapped the glowing selector, causing an Smg to digitize and drop onto the floor with a thud. The sound of water running muffled Garret's panic as he painfully bent over to pick up the weapon, inspecting the sleek Dahl design and specifications on a popup. Garret could only think about how uncleansed and filthy the gun was, splattered with mud, dirt in the mag, and a stained scope.

_She doesn't know how to clean her guns? An unclean gun meant a stupid death on Promethia. _

Sliding everything else to the side, he began to take it apartand laid each piece on the desk, grabbing a grease stained rag from the shelf to clean the individual parts off.

Halfway through wiping down the barrel, Garret realised the water had turned off, and the room had a higher degree of warm humidity. He spun around to look at the steamy bathroom door left ajar, a gleaming wet Gaige reaching for a towel up on the top shelf, completely butt naked. As she grabbed the towel, Garret coughed, causing her to jump in surprise.

"You know you could have just asked for one right? Or are you just flirting with me?"

Gaige turned a deep red before running back into the bathroom, slamming the door shut. The boy turned back to his cleaning with a smirk, confirming his assumptions over her nipple piercings. Quickly finishing up with wiping down the barrel, Garret slipped off his shirt and pants and threw them over the chair, sliding into the bed with a deserving yawn before violently passing out.

_Fuck its cold._

Moments later, Gaige stepped out of the bathroom wearing a thin white shirt and a pair of brown shorts, ready to make a statement about her unintentional nudity before laying eyes on the slumbering adolescent, opting to stay discreet instead. Awkwardly, she slipped under the sheets, attempting to stay as far away from the near naked boy as possible, incapable off shifting her thoughts off his body. The lights went off with a click as the Mechromancer began to shiver slightly under her thin covers. _No sign of Garret waking anytime soon _plotted Gaige, turning around and snuggling up to the young man's scarred back, trying to spoon him for warmth.

Gaige continued to shift positions, trying not to wake the boy, who was already much larger in size compared to her.

_Why the hell is sanctuary in one of the colder parts of Pandora? _Thought the freezing girl, as she clung desperately to Garret's back.

Much to her surprise, the warm youth flipped over onto his other side, slinging his arm over Gaige's waist, squeezing her into his chest. The Mechromancer meanwhile was burning up a dark shade of red, unused to being in such close contact with another person. After a moment of squirming, she gave up trying to break the grip and instead relaxed, relatively pleased by the new heat source. She soon drifted off, her head tucked loosely under the Child-soldier's chin.


	4. Connection

Connection

Gaige laid silently on her bed, the indent of a man in the mattress replaced Garret. She awoke to a slight fit of giggling emanating from her doorway, what sounded like Maya. Lazily, the Mechromancer rubbed her blurred eyes, sitting up on the bed.

"Have a good night with your prince?" came as a joking tone from the door.

Staring at Maya for a moment, Gaige cleared her thoughts before glancing at the empty bed, devoid of Garret. She glanced around more, before Maya interrupted her search.

"He's gone, Left for some breakfast at Moxxi's. You two sure looked cute when I peeked in earlier."

Gaige blushed slightly as she got up and adorned her dress, opting to go casual since there was nothing to do until one of the originals set out a quest. She left her SDU and tool belt on the table, but equipped Deathtrap's summon rod by habit. Maya gave her the eyebrow before trotting off to wake Krieg, leaving Gaige with an uneasy feeling.

Closing her door, Gaige strode into the street of Sanctuary, observing the morning bustle of the last Bastion, in all its frosty glory.

The walk to Moxxi's was uneventful, only passing Lilith and the brute of a man; Brick, on their way to HQ. Stepping through the back door, the young Mechromancer spotted Salvador and Axton sitting at the bar. Axton appeared to be nursing a small hangover, dictated by the aviators he donned over his eyes. Moxxi tended to the boys with tall red glasses of what Gaige assumed was a bloody Mary.

"I'll get you one too hon, grab a seat" ordered the lady, pulling out another can of tomato juice from under the bar.

"Seen G around?" questioned the young woman, looking around the lightly populated diner.

"Why? Wish he was still back in your bed so you two can snuggle?" teased Axton, grinning as he took a sip of his red drink.

Gaige blushed at the remark, looking away angered as she sat at the bar between Salvador and an empty seat.

"NO! I-I mean yes, but-Nonono! J-just have you seen him or not?" stammered Gaige, becoming flustered over an amused Axton.

Salvador could only chuckle as he finish the rest of the bloody merry and slide the glass to a waiting Moxxi, who in turn slid one to Gaige.

"Why Chica? Got a new amante to ride?" clowned Salvador, giving her a large grin.

The girl gave a loud "Pfttttt" before turning to her drink and taking a sip.

She was delighted to learn that there was no alcohol in it, unlike what Sal and Axton were downing, and silently thanked Moxxi. Before the two Vault Hunters could throw out more teases, Krieg and Maya entered, taking a seat at the adjacent table where Hammerlock usually stood during the evenings.

The psycho could only grumble as he unbound the bandages from the lower half of his face, revealing his masculine jaw and a couple of scars to boot. The "Prohibited" cap he wore lay on the table, holding all of the bandages, leaving only the dressings over his bad eye.

Gaige forced herself to look away as Axton pointed out how horny the siren was becoming over the process, inciting heavy laughter from Salvador. As Maya continued to drool over a confused Krieg, Zero slipped in unnoticed, seating himself at the side of the bar.

"Morning" He mumbled, opting for water instead of the usual drink.

"Oh, and honey if you're looking for that cutie you took home last night, He's out of town" spoke Moxxi, chewing on a piece of celery.

Gaige gave her a horrified face in response.

"Oh don't worry; He said he was just going to get some eggs and meat or something."

The young adult sputtered as she began to panic, amusing Axton and Salvador again.

"WHAT! HE'S OUT IN THE WASTE?! HE DOESENT EVEN HAVE A GUN OR ANYTHING! HE DOESENT EVEN KNOW WHAT CATCH A RIDE IS!" shrieked Gaige, beginning to really panic now.

Moxxi shrugged, handing Zero a tall glass of water.

"Well, I didn't tell him to do anything, so I figured he knew what to do" stated the bar maiden.

"NGGGGHHHH. We have to go out there and find him! Garret doesn't even have an Echonet device!"

At the sound of his name, the young man emerged through the door, wearing a snow-white cloak with streaks of dried blood splattered over it. A small cut had formed over his eyebrow, but the boy was unscathed, lugging a bag full of what seemed to be large splotchy eggs and the other hand dragging the beheaded corpse of an adult Skag by the leg.

"Someone looking for me?" asked the boy to no one in particular, dragging the carcass up to the bar.

All occupants held an astounded look to their faces, Gaige more so than the others. She began to sputter again as the boy dragged the goods into the kitchen, the Skag eliciting Krieg to yell "MEAT" amusingly.

The Mechromancer gave up trying to talk and just sipped her Bloody Mary, deciding to chat later as Salvador handed Axton a small wad of bills.

"So…" came from the back, amid the sound of the Boy skinning the animal clean with a knife.

"Nobody decided to tell me that these 'Rakk' things nest up on the cliffs, so I ended up having to climb all the way up there and back down to get these eggs here, while this giant dog thing tried to bite my face off."

The Gunzerker and Commando sniggered in return, while Moxxi shrugged again, serving Krieg and Maya their preferred drinks.

"Almost broke my knife cutting this thing's head off, hell I could use a new one too."

This statement caught the Psycho's attention, making him whisper "So metal…"

Zero on the other hand piqued at the Knife part, interested to see what the boy required with one. More chopping ensued out of the kitchen as the assassin joined in with slicing the Skag to pieces.

"Alright ninja-man, you do that while I get these things scrambling"

Gaige left her seat to peek into the kitchen, ignoring Krieg's irritating excitement over fresh meat.

"Garret? What are you doing? Actually, more importantly, how did you survive out there with a gun?" asked the Mechromancer, witnessing the boy pouring green whisked eggs and milk into cake pans.

"Easy. Camouflage and natural instinct. Not like I was looking for a fight or anything,-Hey Moxxi, where's the cheese?"

"Fridge, hon" replied Moxxi, serving another round of drinks to the rest of the Vault Hunters.

Gaige puzzled as she sat back down, watching her crush sprinkle cheddar into the pans before throwing them into the pizza oven. Maya observed this before turning back to Krieg, who was still hungering lustily for the Skag meat. Salvador and Axton paused their game of weapon comparisons at the sound of meat sizzling, causing them to both look through the kitchen door at Garret, currently hurling the seasoned Skag meat onto a hot skillet. In the meantime, Zero cleaned his sword of blood; taking his seat again as Moxxi drew plates and cutlery out of a cupboard and set them on a counter.

"Boy, kid you sure are the chef, making breakfast for everybody I see?" Moxxi touted, causing Garret to form a small grin.

"Oh. It's just habit. If you didn't share your breakfast with the other soldiers on Promethia, they would've killed you over it" replied the teen.

The room grew silent, save for Axton and Sal's bickering over a rifle popup.

"Well, uh, isn't that nice" commented Moxxi, an air of awkwardness in her tone.

Scraping ensued as the boy snatched the pans of fluffy eggs from the oven, placing them onto the counter cool as he scrambled them with a spoon, adding a pinch of salt and pepper to each pan. The cooked Skag meat sliced easily under the weight of the kitchen knife as Garret diced the portions into bite sized chunks and placed them onto each plate, leaving a full steak for Krieg to devour. Each plate Steamed with a loving aroma as the teen handed them out for Moxxi to serve.

"Steak's for the Hulk" called out the boy, walking out of the kitchen with a plate of his own.

Everyone rejoiced at the fine breakfast before digging in, Maya pestering Krieg to chew his food instead of swallowing the plate whole.

"Never thought I'd be eating green eggs and ham" joked Axton, forking his plate intently.

Salvador chuckled in response, chewing heartily. Meanwhile, Gaige swayed over the intoxicating smell of the food, being the first cooked meal she's had on Pandora. Her stupor ended as Garret sat beside her, throwing his cloak onto the seats behind them. As he began to dig into the eggs, the boy gave Gaige a quick glance.

"Well, c'mon, Jump in" urged Garret, taking a bite out of the chunk of meat on his fork.

Gaige turned back to her food and began to stuff her face, feeling hungrier than she had ever been during her stay in Sanctuary. As the Mechromancer lusted over the meal, Zero sat on his side of the bar, a small digitising beam transferring spoonful's of food into his helmet as he chewed.

_Didn't see that coming,_ thought Garret before turning back to his plate, taking a sip of his water.

"So how'd you sleep last night? Got a bit cold didn't it?" he asked Gaige.

She nearly choked half way through her swallow, forcing herself to down the rest of her drink to breathe again. Over by a satisfied Krieg, Maya snorted and began laughing out loud, making Sal and Axton question her motives.

"Yeah, Gaige, How did you sleep? Boy, you two sure looked warm in that bed!" exclaimed the siren, Krieg lowly chuckling in response.

The Mechromancer turned a familiar shade of red, inching her face more into her food as Garret shrugged and threw out a comeback.

"Yeah, well, you sure sounded warm in that beast's room; even through the walls I could hear him swinging his 'meat-stick' all willy nilly"

Maya turned even redder than Gaige, Krieg giving out a rumbling laugh over his "Meat-stick". The remaining 3 Vault Hunters chuckled in amusement, Gaige laughing a tiny bit out of her embarrassment.

She turned back to Garret, answering his previous question "I was cool, and yeah it did get a tad cold I guess."

Though her blush continued as Garret grinned and set his fork down, finished with the meal. Grabbing both their plates, he set them into the dishwasher before storing the rest of the meat and eggs in the fridge, ready for later use. Stepping out, he was surprised to see Krieg grabbing his wrist, staring him in the eye intently.

"Aren't you a little young to die boy?" growled the man, continuing his gaze.

Garret smirked at himself, before looking back at the psycho, steele flashing in his eyes.

"If I am, then I'd still be on Promethia. I know a lot of kid's that didn't make it off that rock."

Krieg held the stare before letting go and chuckling to himself, folding his arms as he lay back in the chair. Axton and Sal did not take the words to heart as much as Maya or Gaige, as they continued they're bickering over an oversized rocket launcher. Gaige said nothing as he sat back down, finishing the rest of his water.

"So, now what?" questioned the boy, readjusting his brown hair into an amusing style not unlike Axton.

The Mechromancer beside him curled her lip and began to pinch and play with the points on his hair, thinking of a schedule to plan.

"Well, for one we can get you a gun" suggested Gaige, using her bionic arm to spin the hair into a unicorn horn.

With a brightened face, Axton rose from his seat, tired of bickering with Sal. He came between the boy's hair and Gaige's playful nature, interrupting her fun.

"If you're done being all gooey, then I can take him to Marcus for an introduction" spouted the commando, raising an eyebrow over the Mechromancer's open affection.

Gaige snapped her hand back to her side, sticking out her bright pink tongue at the man in protest while another blush begun to form on her cheeks. Garret hopped out of the barstool with a keen intention and followed the commando to Marcus's Gun Store.

Before he knew it, the boy was already unloading slugs of static and lead into the failing shield of a hapless shoplifter, much to the fat Russian's delight.

Axton could only frown as Marcus continued laughing, impressed with the boy's next caustic shot, straight into a captured loader's eye. The acid ate away the bot's metal like a carnivorous beast that had fallen into a rabbit enclosure, unrelenting and obsessively violent, scaring Axton. Caustic weapons were never the commando's strong point, being that his best friend was made of something quite edible for the element.

The hot barrel of the Maliwan revolver glowed orange slightly as Garret blew on it, opting to trade in the caustic pistol for one of the new elements that grabbed his attention. Before the boy could ask, the comrade began to enlighten him on the fresh weapon with his booming accent, much to Axton's annoyance. In the meantime, he simply tested his aim against a paper target in one of the other ranges, the squeezed rounds of his battle rifle echoing up the stairwell.

"So, now that we're done, would you mind selling me a weapon?" asked Garret, still inspecting the Shock Aegis on the weapon tray.

"Ho ho- boy, you sure like to get straight to the point I see? And where do your fine shooting skills come from? Surely you're not a Pandoran?" probed Marcus, greatly interested in Garret's go-to attitude.

Garret puzzled for a moment before giving him a straight answer.

"Promethia"

The heavy Russian's expression turned into a grimace as the name of the cursed planet emerged, recalling some past deals in his head that had gone south.

"Eeyugh, that planet. First Atlas flips the economy onto its back with new tech, and then they go bankrupt! No one wants outdated guns!" exclaimed the dealer, striking up a price on his cash register as the two men approached the desk.

"500 for the gun, 600 for a fill of ammo along with it" offered Marcus, waiting for the boy to ask Axton for cash.

Instead, Garret tapped on his storage deck by his waist, causing a pre-determined wad of bills to digitize in his palm. Both adults were taken back by the action, as the youth continued to tap on the SDU 5 more times.

"Siiiiix hundred, there you go!" presented Garret, shoving the wads of green bills under the metal grate. Marcus shrugged and handed the boy extra clips of pistol ammo, which later digitised into the pistol's SDU and reformed into the iconic triangular clips of the Maliwan Aegis. Axton just shook his head as they walked out, now uncaring for whatever the boy could surprise everybody else with later on.

With nothing else to do, the two parted ways, Axton off to the bar again and the teen off to his room, well, Gaige's room to be fair.

The door popped open quietly as Garret slipped in, not wanting to wake up a recently napping Gaige. Her thin white sheets ruffled as the girl turned over, nearly naked except for her undies. Garret pushed away some bad intentions and instead sat down at the desk, the clean and polished Smg now pushed off to the side.

_Guess I've got a bit of a fetish_ thought the teen, pulling out the newly bought revolver from his SDU, scanning over it for any required cleaning.

Small specs of blood and scratches began to appear on the gun under the desk lamp, much to Garret's annoyance. With some guidance from the weapon's popup, he dismantled it into the core pieces, revealing hidden layers of dirt and grime underneath. He picked up the barrel and wiped it down with the same rag he used the night before, covered in more stains now.

On her bed, Gaige murmured silently and shifted again, curling up into a ball amidst the white sheets. Garret's felt a strong impulse from his groin, before turning back to his weapon cleaning.

A mere couple of minutes later, the teen holstered the gun into his red vest and slipped it off, leaving it on the chair. He slipped off his shirt and pants before walking into the bathroom, leaving them on the floor.

As he entered, the mirror reflected the image of the boy like a stagnant pool of mercury, his features beginning to grow alive the longer he looked at them. He shook off the thoughts of his deep chest scar and other wounds before turning the hot water on in the shower.

The young man looked for a fan switch on the wall, inspecting the other switches before giving up and looking for the fan instead. None to be found, Garret realised as his perception fogged up in the mirror. He left the door open a bit for the steam to escape, not wanting to turn the bathroom into a rice cooker.

As the youth stepped in, his feet slipping slightly on the white tiles, a cascade of warm water flowed over him, caressing his soreness with a delicate touch.

_That's the spot_

Garret groaned as he stretched his arm, reaching for the shower curtain that was nowhere to be found. Instead, he gave up and stood in silence under the stream, revisiting his motives for landing on Pandora.

Inside of his head, a man materialised, lanky yet muscled with a scraggly head of hair, but an estranged smile plastered onto his face as he picked Garret up. His arms were strong and palms calloused, yet his fingers thin and precise. As the man's jean overalls ruffled in the wind, Garret soon realised he was being held in a sea of golden wheat, lines of wind running trails through the fields.

The man spoke, revealing his yellowed teeth, the dark goggles he adorned covering his eyes. Garret listened hard, but could not hear any words escape the thin lips of the male. All he could remember was the pounding word "Uncle". The man put Garret back down onto the dark floorboards of a wooden porch, the rest of a creaky timber house snapping into view as the boy took notice. This time, the man pulled something from his pocket, a rolled up paper, that when unrolled stood out clearly among the rest of the background. Garret inspected it over, noticing his name and a messy signature in the corners, all written in a dark ink. The top of the paper read:

Will,

To the Drake Industries Mine,

Set on the planet of Pandora.

The paper was lifted out of his view as the man chuckled, ruffling his hair and turning off into the field of golden wheat. Garret could only watch as heavier footsteps creaked behind him, scaring him.

The teen turned around to find himself in the place of a battlefield, a dark unforgiving sky teetering with gunfire as the footsteps morphed into the booms of artillery shells in the distance. The golden field he gazed upon turned into a river of red coursing rapids that pulled bodies away from the stained shores. Some of them snagged at his memory as they floated by, the dark soil of the shores enveloping them as their last breaths drifted into the night, unheard.

He spun around to the sound of whimpering, crying, a young teenager curled up in a ball, attempting to hide from the sounds of violence around them. He stepped forward to comfort the terrified girl, remembering from somewhere that he had once given her a hug during his life.

As his fingertips grazed the green helmet of the girl, it slipped off, revealing a primed artillery shell instead. He panicked as the blast threw him off the platform; his perception spinning out of control. Garret braced himself for impact in the crimson river that came to meet him, bits of corpses and weaponry floating apart of where he would land. Instead he was engulfed in a silence, darkness becoming ever lighter as a bonfire lit in front of him.

This time, an old man sat before him, holding a plate of warping metal over the bonfire as he sprinkled a powder and turned it into a shade of blue, the metal growing ever hotter as the flame roared. The man studied the metal intently as it phased through colours, one hand stroking his greying stubble, while the other held the tongs firmly. Quickly pulling the plate from the fire, the man stood and dropped it into a vat of blue glowing liquid, the radiance reflecting from his murky goggles back into Garrets eyes, giving off a final hiss like that of a snake.

The hiss shocked Garret out of his trance, his heartbeat calming as the water stopped flowing, the humid air taking its place. He looked down for the source of the hissing, only to realize that a hand had turned off the water valve. He traced it up to a blushing, but concerned Gaige, holding a large brown towel as she studied his expression attentively.

"Hey, bud… you okay? You've been in here for a good hour" started the teen, expressing concern for her crush.

Garret simply turned his head and stared closely at her, his mind connecting back in place as gleaming drips of water formed and slid down his body.

He whispered quietly, keeping his eyes on Gaige "yeah. J-just…"

The boy let out the rest of his breath before stepping forward, Shocking the Mechromancer. He slipped his broad arms around her frame, his lips lightly grazing her forehead, all much to the teens confusion. As he embraced her tighter, his groin brushing against her stomach lightly, closing his eyes again as he breathed out heavily.

The breath upset loose strands of Gaige's brown hair, the tender warmth traveling over her scalp as she hesitated even more, becoming more uncomfortable the longer she detected the thing stirring up against her stomach. Before she could respond or squeak, Garret whispered quietly again, digging his nose into her hair.

"Sorry…

it's been a long time…

since…

since I've found someone to hold…"

Gaige ended her squirming at this, feeling the boy's depression through his thumping chest, the slick water moistening her cheek. Her arms began to slide up his back, locking the both of them together in a moist embrace as she begun to understand his pain.

"Promethia doesn't leave me…

not at night…"

He began to choke, hugging her tighter for comfort.

"The people I've left behind, what I've had to bury in that putrid soil."

"What we've had to leave behind" murmured Gaige, her head still resting on his beating chest.

The faces and images from the child soldier's past began to blur as the smell of another woman's hair filled his lungs, comforting him deeply.

They stood on the white tiles, embraced in each other's grasp for what seemed like an hour before moving.

Neither of them heard the light knocking from the door as Maya popped her head in, searching for her friend. She barely noticed the two as she stepped in to the room, observing the clothes on the floor and the polished Maliwan on the desk.

Filled with curiosity, she peeked into the bathroom quickly, not expecting to find them both. But find them she did, their mouths locked into a deep kiss as the bare Garret slid his hand over the woman's curves, one finger tracing a line down her back as the other clasped around her cheek and squeezed passionately. A pleasured moan escaped from the Mechromancer's mouth, only to be silenced again by the boy's tongue as they kissed.

Turning a deep shade of cerise, Maya backed out silently, closing the door before slipping back into her room, unsure what to do.

Hey chumps, Author here. As I'm finishing up this chapter, I need someone to confirm whether or not I should include lemon for my next chapter, as I really don't want to get kicked for my lemoning my first story.

P.s: (I'm new to this, so review if you're feeling helpful! Thanks)


	5. Love

*(Warning, Heavy Lemon in this chapter, MA rating.)

Love

Garret eased off of tracing intricate lines and lowered his other hand, so that each held a curvy lump of flesh between them, squeezing periodically to stimulate his mate.

Tired of touching, he pulled up and hefted Gaige by her petite frame, her surprise only momentary as he began to nibble into the soft skin of her neck.

Filled to the brim by lust, Gaige wrapped her slender legs around the young man's rippling torso, her soft feet locking together as he began to slide her down. A soft moan slipped from her mouth as Garret began to grind his firm shaft in-between her legs, her gut twitching every time her nub made contact with the back ridge of his head.

Garret paused his endeavours momentarily as he lifted her into the room, placing her gently on the bed instead. The change in location worried Gaige slightly, being her first time with a man in bed.

He noticed this while unclipping the two latches of her bra, loosening the cups enough for some of the succulent flesh underneath to pop out with a jiggle. The Mechromancer frowned lightly at the act, becoming more nervous as the seconds went by.

The suave teen slid back up to her ear, pressing his now-hot body onto her chest, the warmth between the two mixing. He decided to tease the girl by nibbling on her earlobe lightly, his left hand tracing up her arm to pull off one of the remaining loops of her bra. The nibbling paused as he realigned himself, touching noses with Gaige as he breathed words of encouragement, calming the girl from her anxiety.

"Just let me lead… It's ok." He whispered, before pulling her into another deep kiss with his tongue.

A small pinch made Gaige gasp as it left her mouth and slid down to his hands, both caressing each breast with tender care. He stuck his tongue out farther; lapping up the moisture before gliding over to her left breast, circling around the small piercing that adorned her C-cup mound. She shifted her hands to his head and bit her lip as he bit down, tugging on the soft pink nipple lightly with his teeth. Gaige could only arch her back in ecstasy when the young man let go, flicking the steel piercing with his tongue before enveloping the entire areola with his mouth.

Gaige's frame shuddered as he released the jiggling mound from his suckle, turning onto the next breast with a gaze of lustful hunger. Her pleasure heightened midway through as Garret began to grind again, this time reaching down to pull on her soaked panties as well. A gasp escaped under the door as he tugged lightly on her undergarments, his now twitching shaft rubbing heavily onto her sensitive nub with each stroke.

Feeling satisfied with his work on Gaige's now perky red nipples, he straightened back up and released the pair of visibly wet panties.

Unsure of his motive, the Mechromancer sat up on her elbows as well, only to be pulled onto her upper back as Garret slid her core up close to his face. Gaige twitched at each heavy breath he laid on her soaking vagina, his pulsing erection sliding out between her breast and good arm.

Amused by her confusion, Garret wrapped one of his arms around her stomach to hold on to, while he lifted her wrist from the mattress.

"Here. Just stroke…" instructed the young man, guiding her soft palm to grasp his member.

Gaige focused on her new task, being foreign to any sexual activity encountered on Pandora. She noted the warmth of the shaft, and how he bucked slightly every time her thumb reached the bright pink head at the end of each stroke.

He hummed lightly at the new stimulation before grabbing the back of her panties, peeling them away from her mound slowly as the teen watched, a feeling of true nakedness beginning to embracing her. Garret slid them up and off her right leg, opting to leaving it dangling over her head by one of the toes on her right foot instead of tossing it away.

Taking his hand, he slid it up from her thigh to the crook in the back of her knee, pulling down towards her chest. The action was minimal, but had great effect as Gaige's lightly trimmed mound stuck out further, the untouched lips waiting to be defiled by a sloppy tongue, quivering ever so slightly after each breath.

Pulling back her other leg back with the synthetic arm, a gasp escaped the Vault hunter's mouth as Garret dug in, softly nuzzling his nose into the smooth trim of pubic hair above the clit while his curious tongue began to explore between her lower lips, pushing apart the out labia's in protest. Below, with her shoulders to the bed and knee's to her chest, Gaige could only drool in pleasure, unconsciously pausing her stroking as Garret continued to explore within her.

As the Rookie continued to please his mate, neither of them noticed the small black lens slipping under the door, watching intently as they pleasured on.

Garret was surprised to make contact with a hymen on the tip of his tongue, assuming Gaige had broken it beforehand by accident or purpose. He tossed the notion and slipped his tongue up, tracing light lines over the pink circular nub that dotted the mound. The woman below snapped out of her stupor, becoming impatient with the teases around her spot, continuing to stroke again in protest.

The man smiled as he discontinued the kisses around her labia's, growling in delight to feel her pulling on his member again. Gaige's leg bent back up slightly as he released it, instead using his free hand to spread apart the delicacy in front of him.

Then, he attacked, planting his lips on to the nub of flesh, beginning to suckle hard while the Mechromancer frolicked in pleasure under him, unsure what to do as her senses were overloaded with delight. She began to pant heavily as Garret slipped a finger in, lightly testing the strength of her hymen with curious pokes.

Gaige began to buck slightly as her crush flicked her nub with his tongue, a small action with large consequence. Finally a heavy shudder arrived as Garret teethed it, watching her eyes roll back ever so slightly as the shakes began to set in, lightly at first, but increasing in strength the more he tugged on her clit.

After what seemed like minutes, Gaige calmed back down and returned to the bed, a stream of clear liquid trailing over her stomach as the orgasm ended. Her laborious panting echoed out into the supposedly empty hall, the only other sounds coming from the hum of a nearby heater.

Happy with what he has done, Garret let his woman slide back down to the mattress, reducing the soreness in her upper back. Her hand still held on loosely to his shaft, twitching slightly as he slipped it off, ready to continue.

Gaige huffed one more time before managing a whisper, too tired to get onto her elbows from her recent event.

"That… That was amazing…"

A thin curve formed on Garret's lip as he split the girl's legs apart again, exposing the now bright red mound of her vagina. He slowly raised her legs into the air, leaning her calves against his ears before adjusting lightly to support himself. A silence came over the two as garret formed the missionary position, Gaige's huffs quieting as she propped herself onto her elbows to watch.

Garret began to tease again as he thrusted forward slowly, his head slipping over the nub of flesh as her wetness lubricated him, over and over again after each thrust in-between her slickened thighs. Finally, he stopped, grabbing his now lubricated shaft lightly as he angled it into her, the tip sliding in as far as it could go before touching her hymen. He bent over as far as he could, well enough to kiss Gaige one more time and touch her knee's to her forehead lightly.

"Sorry… This is going to hurt." He whispered before grabbing both of her shoulders and forcing his mouth to hers.

Gaige could only return the man's kiss as he thrusted in slowly, her painful scream muffled by his tongue.

Blood began to seep from each of Garret's bicep's as Gaige squeezed hard with her fingernails, incapable of releasing her pain in any other form. He continued his push, a light trickle of blood emerging from their contact, dripping of and staining the sheets red. The thrust went in no more as her gap ran out of space, the tip of his head kissing up against her cervix tightly. He broke their kiss softly, letting Gaige pant heavily into the air as he paused, sitting inside of his woman.

A small bump outlined his rod through the Mechromancer's abdomen, sliding down as Garret pulled back, a soft squelching emanating from underneath him as he did so.

The teen lay on her back, heavily breathing, and the pain from her mound fading away as her lover slid out, her abdomen clenching in response.

"Ah, ahh" she panted, gazing into Garret's eyes as he slid her leg's from his shoulder to his waist. She locked her feet tightly before he bent over to resume his loving, giving her enough time to grasp firmly to his back.

The gent slid back in, deep enough to touch her cervix again as he thrusted, pulling out ever so slowly, only to ram back in again each time.

Her nails dug into his back harder as he began to speed up, his thrusts becoming more rapid as the mattress slammed against the wall with an audible thud. Gaige's thoughts blurred as more pleasure emanated from her mound, the constant thrusting painfully punching her in the cervix like a dull blow from a sledgehammer.

Coming to a slow halt, Garret discontinued his thrusts, pulling out as Gaige slowly collected herself. She looked up as he cleaned his rod on the sheets, uncaring now for hygiene.

He had felt he was coming close, so he decided to take a break and switch positions, first cleaning himself off on the bed.

"Now it's your turn to try" whispered the man, laying his back onto the mattress as he pulled the curious teen onto him.

Gaige hesitated slightly as she sat on his stomach, forgetting all of the intricate moves she bothered to learn while on the net. But she snapped out of it as Garret grasped her hips lightly, sliding her down his body, over his curling brown hairs. The pleasure began to return as he grinded her over his shaft, her hands gripping his wrists as he paused lightly.

"Just up and down… It's easy"

The two pink ends touched together lightly as Garret took his member and repositioned it under the Vault Hunter's mound, a thick sticky fluid lubricating the both of them in anticipation. At that, Gaige clenched her teeth and sat back slowly, the rod sliding in with less resistance than before as it slipped past her cervix and into the nook of her anterior fornix.

She gasped lightly as he bumped her up with his hips, urging her to move.

Her response was well received as she began to slide up and down, each stroke feeling significantly better than the last as they continued on.

What felt like as hours passed as they continued their love, ever so gently as Gaige could feel herself about to crumple under the intense pleasure she felt, for the first time in her life. Garret could feel himself building also, shifting one hand from the plump thigh he rested it on, up to her perky breasts. The action did not go unnoticed as Gaige grasped his playful hand with bionic one, the cold metal applying a tingling sense to his wrist like that of an ice cube.

The sound of their loving began to leak out more as they progressed, the Mechromancer incapable of staying quiet with her moans as Garret tugged on her piercing playfully. Feeling a small tingling beginning to develop in her nether regions, she bent over and placed her arms beside his head, her breast's swinging lightly as he began to passionately thrust into her movements.

That was it.

The tingling in Gaige disappeared as it was wiped away by a sense of pure ecstasy, her movements pausing as the orgasm kicked into full overdrive. She collapsed onto her love's bare chest as shudders emerged, her bucking hips lightly held into place by his left hand as the right gently caressed the indents in her back.

Garret could not keep himself down as her insides tightly clenched around his member, unwilling to let go as he himself reached climax. With her orgasm reaching the peak, Gaige gave an ungodly moan, her bucking causing her to stutter as it developed into a light cry of pleasure. The man beneath her could only groan silently as he came, his reddened member pulsing heavily as it delivered its messy contents up his shaft and into her. But with nowhere to go, the sticky white substance slowly oozed out of the woman, coating Garret's abdomen instead.

As both of their climaxes leisurely came to an end, all that could be heard from the hall was laborious panting from the both of them, severely exhausted by the ordeal.

With her strength sapped, the Mechromancer could only turn her head slightly from his thumping chest of which she lay, deciding to give some final words for her amazing experience.

"mmh… I… I really needed that" whispered Gaige, before promptly falling asleep, her body still laid out over Garret in a hugging fashion.

He could only kiss her lightly on the temple in response, grabbing the remaining sheets on the bed and draping them over both of their bodies.

With the feeling of his rod gradually softening, and Gaige's breasts pressed to his chest, he drifted off to sleep, happily tired out by pleasure, instead of a survival for once in his life.

Behind the door and camera sat Zero, goofing off with an Echo-sim while a silent Maya and Lilith watched the two teen's slumber off, mouths hanging agape over what they just witnessed on the screen.

Sooooo, there's a lemon down for you. Took me a while, and might not be the best, but Oh well.

Note: Admins/mods please alert me if this should be taken down, as I couldn't find the MA rating, and really don't want to lose my account or story or anything. Thanks.


	6. Serenity

Serenity

The light hum of a dying heater filled Garret's ears as he eased out of his slumber, the small rattling giving away as the piece of machinery slowly sorted itself out. It was morning, _and a warm one at that, _thought the boy, with the slumbering form of Gaige laid on top of him like a soggy pancake.

Garret shifted himself and rolled sideways, splaying the naked body of his new acquaintance onto the rest of the bed. As he admired her body, He could not avert his gaze. The pale blue light from the adjacent window embraced her sleek frame, the small shadows cast by her curves imitating that of a smooth drawing.

The youth finally gained strength to rise from the bed, breaking his contact with the milky skin as he stepped into the bathroom.

Only moments later, Garret stood outside the door to the apartment complex, adorning a heavy grey cloak that he had nicked from the complex.

It was quiet, save for the usual gust of wind and snow. Nearly all the windows were dark, and people still slumbering as Garret checked the time on his echo-device; showing up at 18:45.

He sighed. Pandora's 90-hour day was something that the youth would have to get used to, _even if my internal clock is a bit rusty_, remembered the boy as he began to march up the road.

More snow was now falling as the young man turned the corner, going through a darkened walkway to end up outside of Marcus's store. The lack of neon or lighting indicated that not even the merchants were up yet.

Garret paced on through the streets, his steps making small crunches on top of the concrete roads of the town center. The dark, crimson banners waved gently as a chill blew by, Raider HQ lying dormant behind it.

More wind filled the air as the boy continued his walk, coming to a stop in front of the back door to Scooter's Garage.

The heavy clanking of the door was silenced by the wind as Garret entered, surprised to see a fully functioning Scooter working on one of his runners. Stray sparks leapt all over the place, fizzing out before they could hit the concrete floor of the garage. Only a black weld mask protected the mechanic from his work.

At the sound of footsteps approaching, Scooter shut off the torch and spun around to face the boy. He lifted the mask, only to reveal a pair of sporty sunglasses and a mug adorned with streaks of grease and sweat. A look of curiosity and excitement came over him.

"Heyyy! Aint'chu that new kid that done 'n fell out of the sky? Y'know, like with a big explosion n' stuff?" questioned the mechanic, inspecting Garret with a keen eye similar to what he would inspect his runners with.

Amused by the heavy southern accent that reminded him of old cowboy movies he had watched on Eden, Garret could only smile. "Yeah, that's me."

Scooter clapped his hands in delight. "Well bend me backwards and call me a bridge, what can I do fer you today?"

Nearly a half hour later, a scorching oven flared openly beside the young man, warming him from the coldness within the garage. Each movement Garret made was one to strike, quick and coordinated as the boy lifted a black hammer over his head. It came down with an audible clank, molding the disfigured shape of a metal plate with a shower of sparks. He lifted the hunk of metal from the makeshift anvil and flipped it with a pair of tongs, ready to smooth it into a shape.

Armor was not what the metal was for, Garret knew that well. But he would rather not walk around Pandora with a pierced chest plate, lest he be hit with another rocket.

The red-hot metal warped instantly with the next strike. But it was not the shape, rather the color that shifted, phasing through a plethora of vibrant shades. Scooter could only watch from behind his runner, his attention snatched from him with an iron-grip.

A sweat had formed on the boy as he placed the folded hunk of metal back into the furnace, slamming the door closed.

"Quite the know-how aint you? Where'd ya learn to do all that stuff?" questioned the mechanic, his hands fiddling with a component of a buggy.

Garret responded. "Ever heard of a place called Promethea?"

"Nope"

He saw that one coming.

"A book then" replied the youth, chuckling over Scooter's honest response.

The mechanic in turn was amazed by this small revelation. "Waaaooow… I didn't know books could teach y'all that! Too bad I can't read though…"

The two could only let out quiet laughter as Garret pulled the metal out of the furnace with the tongs, ready to pound again.

Minutes of work passed before a deathly hiss filled the garage, followed by a bout of panicked yelling. One of the doors slid open, exposing the two and their act of dropping the plate into a smoking bucket. The smoke in question was a deathly putrid colour, hints of slag and Eridium particles floating by as it was sucked out into the sky by Sanctuary's airflow. Only a minute passed before either of them could breath, wheezing when the air finally cleared.

"Well shit, aint nobody know that Eridium water make a smoke worse that bandit barbeque!" yelled Scooter, his face shielded by a grease stained rag.

Garret wiped his eyes and face, still sitting in front of the bucket. "Sorry. Didn't think Eridium would combust like that."

"WHAT! You cudda killed us man! Even I know that that there blue stuff aint healthy for ya!" exclaimed the mechanic.

The Garage was silenced before Scooter could holler anymore, by the sight of what emerged from the bucket of glowing Eridium water.

A polychromatic sheen rolled across the metal kite, the edges crisp and pointed like that of a sword. The plate discontinued its vibrant sheen before glowing blue, similar to that of Eridium, and phasing to a dull grey.

Scooter was hopping around festively, amazed by the metal. "wahooo, that sum crazy-ass dinner plate ya got there! I aint never seen anything like that before!"

Garret could only chuckle as he clipped it onto his red vest, the metal providing a rejuvenating flow of energy through his frame.

"It's pretty rare, can't lie about that. But anyways, thanks for letting me use your tools, I appreciate it," thanked the youth, dumping the Eridium water contents off the side of Sanctuary.

Scooter tipped his hat, and offered the boy a deal. "Well, aint no hassle for me! Hell, howbout I set'cha up with my Catch a Ride system? You gon' need a runner if yer rolling with them vault hunter folk."

A shrug was given in response to the offer.

"Alrighty, now just hold still while I scan you in." Scooter instructed, pulling a device from his tool belt. A single bright blue flash later and the hick pocketed his device, a grin on his face.

"Done'r than a donut, howbout you setup your preferences on you Echo?"

Garret frowned. He had heard about and seen the handy little device, but he still did not have one of his own.

"Don't have one yet."

Scooter was surprised. "WHAT! You tellin me you been on Pandora this entire time without one? That's cray cray maaan."

Another shrug was inserted into the conversation.

"Well, I tell you what, I think I got another one in the back somewhere… hold a tit would ya?"

The mechanic left the boy to go rummage through some lockers behind the stairs, giving a loud "Aha!" when he found what he was looking for.

"Here, put this on and setup yer junk when you find a time to do it, 'cause some re'tard just blew up another runner, and I have to patch it up!"

The youth was satisfied as he exited the garage, giving Scooter a friendly wave as he stepped up the flight of stairs towards Moxxi's.

A small hum filled the empty bar as Garret closed his Echo-Device, waving the extranet browser away with a swipe. On the desk before him, a small parcel formed, constructed molecule by molecule from a Digi-printer. The quiet humming stopped as a single beep emanated from the device.

Garret picked up the parcel and shut the door to the bar maiden's office, lingering for a small moment to chuckle at the dinky piano in front of it.

The bar maiden herself stood at the counter, blending up pitchers of something she regarded as a "Pandoran Mauler". He could only spot a bottle of jaded vodka and a couple of carroty fruits from his view before entering the kitchen.

"breakfast again hon?" questioned the Zaford, pulsing the blender.

Garret opened the fridge, inspecting the remaining eggs and meat. "Yeah, I got a thing for culinary. I should probably tell you, I did have to work a fast food joint on E5 before I went criminal."

"Huh" responded Moxxi, occupied with readying the blender for another pitcher of the mix.

"kept me going till I could afford a pair of Digipicks, then the first thing I stole was a cookbook, believe it or not" continued the youth, washing his hands under the sink.

The bar maiden finished preparing the drinks before storing them in a fridge. "I think I'll believe it hon."

"First meal I cooked for myself."

A smile formed on Garret's face as he unwrapped the Skag meat. _Something else for this morning?_  
He thought to himself as he pulled up the Echo-Device, swiping back to the extranet browser. Few words were tapped before the boy found a suitable recipe to his liking.

Seconds later, the boy was rummaging through the cabinets, pulling out a multitude of metal tiles and placing them onto the counter.

"Where's the former?" asked Garret, unsure himself.

"B'side the fridge."

"aha" he murmured, finding the small device.

A burst of flashes later, the youth stepped back, holding a large frying pan and Muffin tin.

Gaige mumbled soundlessly as she lay on her stomach, slowly rising out of her slumber. More snow had fallen outside since Garret had awoken, frosting over her windows. She groaned lightly, shifting in her spot on the bed as inklings of the night before seeped into her head.

"mhmm…" was all she could mutter, sliding off her bed and trudging to the shower.

Light scraping could be heard out of the kitchen as Garret continued his cooking, currently frying meat in a pan.

The scent that wafted out of the kitchen ended up being devoured by Salvador's square nose, his meaty frame hopping up the steps two at a time to find the source. Axton followed close behind, affixed to the odour like his friend.

Both of the men adorned sweaters and coats, highly repulsed by the snow and temperature.

"Tits it's cold out, can't we move to somewhere with, you know, less snow?" complained the commando, his shivering adding to the question.

"Altitude is the problem"

Axton looked around as he stepped through the doorway, only to spot Zero adorning a heavy orange parka.

"meh" responded Salvador, taking a seat at the bar.

Moxxi greeted the trio and pulled out a few tankards, filling them up with her blended pitchers. "Mauler's to keep you boys awake. I hear a bit of job posting going on around town, so you might have a big day ahead"

"ey, at least it's better than freezing off up here, amIright?" said the gunzerker, taking a sip of his drink before grimacing.

"I guess-WOAHOAHOA!" Axton sputtered after taking a sip of his mauler, nearly being blown off his seat by the drink.

The commando recovered quickly. "Son of a bitch, that has some kick to it! Right Z?"

The assassin simply nodded as the cup emptied into his straw.

"Don't beat my homebrew, carbon" mentioned Sal, enjoying the kick.

The sound of trays shuffling interrupted the room and gave away Garrets presence.

"What's on the menu this time kiddo?" asked Axton. "Steak would be awesome."

Garret scooped each baked egg from the muffin pan; placing one on each plate save for Krieg, who received two.

The youth responded amusingly. "Baked eggs and Eden Stir fry with a side of mash potato… Things, they taste like potatoes at least."

Salvador gave a shrug.

Gaige flopped back onto her bed after changing, feeling tired and incapable of breathing through her nose. The red and white stockings did not provide as much warmth as her purple hoodie did, _and I should get some pants_, thought the teen.

Before she could get back out from under the newly replaced sheets, Maya popped in and locked the door behind her.

"heeeey" said the Siren, bouncing on to the bed with a naughty smile.

Gaige grumbled before burying her face into the pillows. "What."

"How'd it go last night?"

The Mechromancer turned her head to look at the woman. "How did _what_ go last night?"

Maya gave a playful frown. "You know what I'm talking about. I could practically hear you two through the walls last night"

A deep blush filled Gaige's face before she shrank under the covers. "It was… Cool."

Silence enveloped the room, prompting Gaige to peek out under her covers. Maya howled in laughter at the comment, incapable of keeping balance and falling on the floor. The embarrassed teen only kept a frown on her face as the Siren rose, causing her to giggle harder.

"Hahh, hah, oh my god, banging your first man, was _cool_?" Her laughing continued.

Gaige interrupted. "Yeah, well at least he let me ride on top, unlike your experience with Krieg the hound."

Maya shot her a glance. "hey, it's his sort of thing."

Both women heard the psycho down the hall, screaming about "smelling blood".

"Guh, anyways, let's get some breakfast. I hear some new jobs are coming out today."

After a quick change of apparel, both ladies stood in the street, Krieg attempting to make a psychotic version of a snow angel instead. "BUUUUUUUURRRRNN LIKE ICE" he yelled, flopping around like a fish in the powdery snow.

Maya could only smile as the trio then trotted (Krieg flopping) off to Moxxi's.

"Done" said the exasperated Garret, delivering plates of steaming food out of the kitchen doorway. Axton and Sal dug in whole-heartedly as Zero warmed up his digitiser for use.

"Thmells great!" was all the commando could comment, his mouth full of food.

The others nodded in agreement as they ate. Garret rested the remaining plates down in their spots, awaiting the rest of the crew.

"I AM READY TO FEAST AMONG THE FLESH OF THOSE DESERVING, BRING ME THEIR MEAT!"

No one flinched at the booming demand.

"He means good morning." Added Maya, stepping through the doors followed by Gaige and Krieg.

"Buenos dias" replied Sal, sipping his drink.

The rest seated themselves around the bar quietly. Just as Gaige took off her jacket, the bar's heater rumbled on with a flood of warmth, much to her pleasure. A plate of food greeted her as she turned back on her seat, the smell of pepper and mashed potatoes filling her nose.

The aura vanished abruptly as Garret hopped into the seat beside her, setting down two mugs of something steaming and his plate of grub.

"Tits it's cold out" stated the boy, rubbing his hands for warmth before handing Gaige one of the hot mugs.

She took a small sip, her dulled smell incapable of recognizing the substance from a distance. A small murmur of "hot chocolate" escaped her lips before she downed the rest of the mug in a feverish manner.

Garret leant back, surprised by her reaction. "Whoa cowboy, take it easy, there's more in the back"

Before the youth could register the mug slamming on the table, his right cheek quickly became enveloped in tender warmth, catching him off guard. It vanished as the young Mechromancer leaned back into her seat, smacking her lips. "That. Was. Awwwwsommme! Do you know how long it's been since I've had this? Almost freaking for-ever!"

The boy slowly returned to his food, a small grin plastered to his lips. "I'll take that as a compliment then."

"Yeah you will, because this is almost the best morning ever! Except for th-…" Gaige cut herself off, pausing mid-sentence. Garret gave her a questioning look in response.

Then, he saw it. The small quiver in the nose, opening of the mouth, moisture on the lips, a sheen that could only spell disaster.

With reflexes matching the speed of light, the boy snatched a napkin from the table and plastered it over the Mechromancer's impending face like a rag of fresh chloroform.

And then, at that very moment, she detonated.

The force of the blow was not unlike that of a sledgehammer impacting a pillow, soft, yet a sneeze full of force and ferocity.

"Ay caramba!" shouted Salvador, leaping out of his booster seat like a Truxican jumping bean that had been thrown onto a hot skillet. Meanwhile, another explosion occurred, but this time it was much quieter, yet moist. The explosion in fact, originated from Axton's now brightly coloured nostrils, which at the moment appeared to be ejecting a gulp's worth of his drink.

The others simply frowned, Zero broadcasting a comical ( :/ ) with his visor.

"Except for the cold, huh?" finished Garret, discarding the shredded napkin into a bin.

"T-thorry…" was all the girl could mutter, before quietly pilfering his mug of hot chocolate.

Elsewhere…

"Angel, hon, What's this I'm hearing about some chump popping out of the sky? You left the note in my Vault-hunter box, and you know that only bad guys go in here right? "

"Yes. I do. Regarding the 'chump', It appears he was part of the courier ship you decided to blow up the other day."

"huh."

"What's interesting is that his Orbital Landing was a success, as he did not burn up in the atmosphere. From the camera footage I got from Opportunity, The trajectory would put his landing zone somewhere near Sanctuary, or at least where it used to be."

"Ho-hold up. You're saying that not only did this guy survive my kick-ass laser, but he also surfed his way down too? That is awesome. I gotta meet this guy!"

"Unfortunately, the Crimson Raiders have taken him, and sources say the Vault-Hunters have taken a liking to him."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Sooo…"

"Find him, identify him, and see if we have dirt on him for a bounty. Not only do I want to meet him, now I have to kill him!"

"…"

Authors note:

Sorry for putting this one out a bit late, been up to some stuff recently, so yeah. Next chapters are going to take up more of an action role as I intended.

Reviews are greatly appreciated, as I am a bit paranoid about how my writing flows, and if there's too much fluff.

(Note: Realized that I was spelling 'Promethia' wrong. It's actually Promethea. Now I'm too lazy to go back and change it ( :/ ).


	7. Proficiency

Proficiency

"You'd think it's kinda funny. Just a little bit in the least."

Maya gave the boy a questioning look while reloading her Tediore shotgun, caught off guard by his statement. "What?"

Garret eyed her for a second before looking inspecting the bullet filled corpse that lay silent in front of him.

"Bad-Ass was way more of a threat than this 'Wot' guy. Hell, he's not even dead yet" stated the boy, noticing the miniscule twitches coming from the body. Krieg approached from behind, gripping his tool of the trade with bloodlust.

"SALT THE WOUNDS!" yelled the Maniac, revving the axe and burying it into the chest of the bandit.

"Aaaand this one too" added the youth, calmly unholstering his Shock Aegis and putting a round into Assassin Wot's helmet for good measure. In response, a green checkmark popped up on his HUD, indicating he had completed a secondary objective.

"Nice. Now come on let's move, there's still 3 more to go" said Maya, tapping a mildly distracted Krieg on the shoulder.

Hisses and rumbles followed the three as they continued through Southpaw Steam & Power, mechanisms and mist working away like the insides of a colossal beast. The atmosphere was not alien to Garret, but rather comforting in a way. There were no hidden snipers to keep an eye on or long distances to be exposed in, a fact that calmed the boy slightly as inklings of bloodied combat slowly resurfaced from his memory.

As serious as they would be, Garret could only shove them away and ready his pistol, the sound of an opening blast door and whooping of bandits grabbing his attention. A few popped out from the crevices like vermin, a stray midget mixed into the fray as well as a hefty marauder. The boy calculated in his head, deciding which target to engage as his eyes swept through the catwalks, finally resting on the marauder and the menacing sniper rifle he welded.

"Then again, sniper's still a sniper" muttered the boy, taking back what he had presumed earlier. Garret snapped to the nearest cover before the boom of the rifle filled the room, digging into a concrete pillar. Maya joined suit, slamming into an opposing pillar as she readied her phaselock for use. Krieg on the other hand had opted to light himself on fire and charge the approaching psychos with rage.

"YOU CANT CATCH ME IF I'M ON FIRE" he bellowed, striking a psycho in the face with his axe.

Blood splattered over the walls again and again as Krieg advanced, continuing his vehement slaughter. Noticing the lack of aggro, the siren turned from the pillar and unloaded her shotgun, sending small missiles into the fray of combat. The screams of unexpected agony reached her ears in response as Garret mistakenly stood from his cover, attempting to land a shot on the marauder.

It was the blast that really scared the youth. Not who could be behind the trigger, or where the gun came from, but just the sound of a high velocity round exiting a barrel at unimaginable speeds. It was something that really scared the boy on Promethea.

Unfortunately, inside the plant was no different.

Garret could only freeze, the sound of the shot vibrating through the air with enough force to make his teeth clench. He could see it coming. Slowly exiting the barrel like a cannonball, making a beeline straight for his chest. It inched closer, second by second, inch by inch, propelled by sheer energy.

But the young soldier knew better than to just die.

Every ounce of strength he could muster flowed through him as his synapses began firing, his nerves jolting in response as more and more adrenaline was pumped into his body. With only a meter of space to go, Garret brought up his left arm in reflex. He watched the light tan of his skin slowly crystalize into a heavy black carapace, a sooty black overcoming the natural pigment.

Another explosion filled the room as the round shattered against the phased arm, startling the marauder who had delivered the rounds. But the shock was only temporary before Garret lashed out, aiming a punch at the bandit.

Maya could only gape at the scene as her hairs rose, stimulated by an immense wave of energy. Krieg felt it also, pausing his massacre to gaze intently at the boy.

The apex of the punch came within the blink of an eye, a small ripple of air forming in front of the blackened knuckles like a drop of water onto the surface of a still lake. It paused only for a fraction of a millisecond before turning a bright sapphire, a black orb forming in its place, not unlike the one's the Sirens often formed. The singularity reached a climax the size of a tennis ball before collapsing in on itself, shattering the air with jagged streaks of thin black fractures.

One particularly large line snapped its way across the room like a strike of lightning, making contact with the frozen marauder's torso. As soon as the jagged black fracture touched, all the others retracted from their reaches, absorbing back into Garret's knuckle.

A deafening crack filled the room as the bandit was flattened against the wall, punched from across the room with an unrealistic speed. The crack in the air faded from existence as the boy pulled back his arm, the texture glistening under the fluorescent lights like a growth of black diamonds.

"Hoooooooleeeeeeeschiiit" gawked the siren, blown away by the extreme display of power.

Garret let out a short breath before unclenching his fist, only starting to acknowledge the energizing blue glow wafting from his chest plate. "Woo yeah, man-siren, is a go."

"A-a go? You just shattered the room! And you even put a dude into the wall!" exclaimed Maya, who was close to hysterics now.

The boy paused and looked at his arm. It remained the same color and texture, soot black with the feel of crystal edges. It crackled lightly as he rotated his wrist, the material bending, not breaking from the movement. "Well, now I have a tattoo like yours! So that's cool."

"THE SILENCE WILL BORE ME FROM MY FLESH, DEATH CALLS ME NOW!" screamed Krieg, oblivious to the recent developments.

The woman threw out an "ugh" before turning to the opening doors.

"Don't fret now, we still have 3 more dudes to kill" assured Garret as he unholstered his Aegis again.

The rest of the dungeon run was uneventful, other than Krieg barbequing an already-flaming Reeth into a pile of ironic dust. Silence followed as the three continued to the last room of the plant, eyes open and gun's ready for Rouf. They entered the large room, noticing the unopened blast door across the chasm.

Krieg halted the group as he approached a container, flipping it open to reveal a multitude of pistol clips that would fit nicely into the psycho's bandit repeater. Garret also checked his ammo reserves, noticing the lack of a grenade mod in his inventory. Only when he closed his Echo did he notice the gaping door and three figures standing there.

A wave of gunfire erupted through the room, sparks and stray shrapnel flaring the boy's shield as he leapt for a pillar to hide behind. The other two did the same, Maya opting to return fire with her shotgun over a stack of crates. Elsewhere, the deranged psycho decided rushing headfirst would be the best choice of action, unaware that his shield was already dangerously low.

"LET ME PLAY HOPSCOTCH IN YOUR BLOOD, LET ME LATHER MY SOUL IN THE CREAMY GOODNESS" roared Krieg, his barrier finally depleting with an energized burst.

Garret could only turn and run, taking advantage of the mess. He hopped up the stairs with haste, aware of Maya's panic as Krieg was predictably mowed down by the dual Nomads. At the peak of his dash, the youth dropped and slid under the railing, slipping through silently and landing behind the opposing trio.

He ran forward, leveling his shots into the back of the far Taskmaster that had mown down Krieg. The rounds pierced and fizzled as they quickly drained the bandit's shield, exposing him to a hail of vengeful gyro jet rockets from Maya.

Before the other nomad could fully turn to bear his shield, Garret leapt into the air, landing feet first on the back of the man and kicking him into the railing with the sound of metal bending. Through the commotion, Rouf decided that running was the best choice of action as he blindly fired his gun at the boy. The youth ducked before seizing the dazed nomad from the railing by his belt, swinging him around with both arms like a sack of flour. Only a shriek came from the assassin before he was plowed by the body, the all too familiar sound of bones fracturing echoing around the room.

Muffled screams could be heard as Garret slowly approached the corpse, looting a brutish looking bandit mg in the process. He gazed across the catwalk to observe Maya hovering over a regenerating Krieg, holding his head as the wounds and holes over his body slowly sealed closed.

"He'll be kicking in no time" commented the youth, stuffing the barrel of the mg into the unconscious nomad.

Maya could only smirk at the comment, Krieg slowly pulling back into consciousness under her with a growl.

A prolonged burst of gunfire later, and the deed was finished, albeit quite messily for Garret. He dropped the mg onto the floor with a clunk and wiped his face of splattered blood, kicking the two corpses off the catwalk and into the abyss.

The siren, on the other hand was happy to see Krieg bounding with rage, unhappy about his fall in battle. "Hey now, there's plenty more people to kill on this planet, don't worry" assured Maya, attempting to hold down the psycho by his shoulders.

"I WILL END ALL WHO DARE TO RIDE MY MEAT TRAIN" he roared in response.

Garret looked over at the two bickering while he continued to wipe his face. It was strange and out of place for a border world, But to the boy it was amusing and refreshing, reminding him that people still knew how to live. "Come on you two, were done and I see a big-ass chest on the other side of this…"

The youth did not finish as both vault hunters approached the boy in alarm, unknowing of what had made him so quiet.

At first it was hard to notice, but it slowly became apparent that the face on the fresh wanted poster on the wall belonged to the boy in question. He slowly read out the listed bounties.

"Manslaughter…

Genocide…

Thievery…

Associated with bandit strongholds of major degree…"

Garret continued to eye the list, the final one catching him off guard.

-Deadly usage of Siren abilities.-

Worth:  
1,000,000,000,000

The trio could only stand in silence, Maya afraid to say anything that would upset the boy, relating to her shock when she had discovered her wanted poster in Liars Burg.

"There's no barbeque 'till I say there's a barbeque!" interrupted Krieg, kicking open the door beside the wall of posters.

Garret stood silent, only for a moment before lightly chuckling to himself and turning.

"Big fucking bounty" was all the boy said, walking through the newly opened door with a stride.

"What!? That's it? No crying or anger? I mean, that's a real bounty! And you're the most expensive man on Pandora, heck, even this galaxy!" urged Maya, watching the boy casually lean over to open a bright red chest on the floor.

"yeah. So? You saw what it said. People are smart enough to know what sirens can do, hell, even you know this. Simple as that."

Maya stood, her mouth dropping open in confusion as Garret lifted a bright yellow Hyperion shotgun from the case, pocketing a multitude of shell's as well.

"B-but, one trillion dollars!" Urged the siren, pointing at another bounty on a wall.

"But, man-siren!" responded Garret, loading the weapon.

The siren could only shut her mouth in response, incapable of thinking up a comeback.

"Hey, it's not that bad, I beat Gaige by 200 billion, and no one really came hunting for her, did they?"

Acceptance came over Maya as she shrugged, setting things aside. Done with their task, the three returned to the yellow fast travel station, ready to zip back to Sanctuary with a job completed.

Elsewhere, a lone figure sat silently in his chair, watching the surface of Pandora from behind a layer of glass. He tapped on a small grey tablet beside him, pulling up a requisition form from the Dahl Corporation. A small bit of typing occurred as the door behind him slid open with a hiss, another figure stepping through.

"I can see you've taken a liking to Pandora Mr. Rorschach. Anything else the Hyperion moon base can offer?" asked Mr. Blake, standing behind the chair.

The red army fatigued man sat silently in the chair, playing with the eye patch over his left eye. "A couple of things have come to thought" was all the man said, adjusting his white beret. He pulled it off to reveal the left half of his skull missing, replaced with a multitude of cybernetics and microchips.

This quietly disgusted Mr. Blake, but he said nothing.

"Ships, troops, however much Jack is willing to take out those bounties" continued the man, placing the beret back onto his head and checking over the rack of armour that sat opposite to him.

The Hyperion vice president spoke up "Ah. Jack has changed his requirements for you. He wants them alive, any that are dead will be absent from the bounty."

No reaction came from the man in the chair as he silently gazed over his hydraulic arm.

"So be it."


	8. Disruption

Disruption

A heavy fizzle filled the station as Garret was printed out of the fast travel network, Maya and Krieg following soon after. "Well, that was fun" said the youth, checking over his 'Hyperion: Projectile Diversification' shotgun. Maya nearly responded, but stopped before she started, something catching her attention. The city was quiet.

Garret had noticed not soon after, turning to the front entrance of the building and listening. There was nothing. "Quiet isn't it?" commented the youth, stepping out into the snow. The other two followed suit, their footsteps crunching along the ground. "Where's… Everybody?" asked the siren, being closely followed by a tensed Krieg. Garret shrugged.

Maya swiveled her head around, actively searching for even the slightest trace of civilization in the barren town center. The psycho kept quiet and on guard, but instead sniffed the air for any scent. "I don't smell anything either" stated Garret, trying to catch anything from area. "Maybe it's just really cold?" questioned Maya, realizing the group's lack of clothing.

The ice had stopped falling long before the three had arrived, leaving behind banks and piles of crystal for the wind to sweep up. "No. There should still be guards patrolling around" responded Garret, recalling his last visit. "There" He pointed out a pair tracks leading towards Moxxi's, down the cracked stairs. "You two go check the bar, there's bound to be someone there. I'll check HQ."

Leaving with nod's, the two trudged off in the snow, leaving Garret alone in front of the station. With a silent huff, he looked towards the building and began his marching through the heightened snow.

The lack of Private Jessup was concerning for the youth, a pair of snowed in tracks in his place leading up to the steps of the aged building. Tannis was nowhere to be found either as Garret crept in, only noticing the recently opened chest at the back of the room. He continued up the stairs, becoming aware of a periodical hum that reached his ears every second or so. The farther he made it up the stairs, the more distinct became the hum, before finally forming into nearly audible words.

It was Brick. No doubt about it as Garret reached a closed door at the top of the flight, almost comforted by the sound company. He opened the door, hoping to find familiar faces, but was greeted by a questioning glare from Mordecai and a fuming Slab-King instead.

"Who the hell are you?" asked Brick, his heavy voice penetrating Garret's ears like a drill. "Hey, don't worry, he's one of us" assured Mord, placing a hand up to stop the giant. Garret looked at the two men assuredly before slowly walking in, easing off his guard. "Yeah. I just got back from southpaw. Have a finished mission for Roland." The two veterans stood silent against the comment. "So-uh, where's everybody gone?"

Mordecai glanced at Brick before turning back to the boy, unsure of what to say.

"Home. Roland's dead." interrupted the large man, his eyes focusing back on the glowing data map in front of him. The hunter could only nod in agreement before turning around and grabbing a small parcel from a shelf.

"I guess I should go then..." suggested Garret, motioning towards the door. "Good thinking" was all Brick could respond with, turning away and walking towards the balcony. Though, before he could leave, Mordecai blocked his path, thrusting an unwrapped Smg into his hands.

The boy gave it a questioning look, shifting his expression to the hunter.

"Your reward" Was all the man said before turning to reach for a brown glass bottle before downing most of it with a long, sullied chug. Garret left before the contents of the bottle could be fully emptied.

He emerged back into the snow filled courtyard, inspecting the Bandit weapon. A high mag count but low accuracy was not something the youth would use often, but he scanned it into storage anyways, thinking that Gaige might find it fun to use. The wind began to pick up again as Garret walked off, heading towards the apartment while he sent Maya a resolute message.

Minutes later, the door to the frigid room slid open quietly, not interrupting the Mechromancer that was snugly dug into the bed. She was still sleeping off the cold, uninformed of the recent events. Garret scowled at the inactive heater, disappointed at the device. He kicked it softly a few times before it purred back to life, radiating comforting warmth. "Stupid shit" insulted the youth silently, skeptical about the heater lasting long enough.

The teen hung up his vest and SDU's, leaving the Smg on the table for Gaige as he stripped the rest of the bloodied clothes off and dumped them into an Automated-Laundry-Bin beside the bathroom door. With one last motion, he slipped off his underwear and jumped into the shower.

Warmed water flowed over his body, cleansing the shallow dirt and dried blood from his face. The shine of small droplets caught his attention, shifting his gaze to the phased arm he now adorned. The mold between the carapace and his flesh was seamless with small unintelligible tattoos lining where the crystal had dug under and bound to his muscle and bone, making him appear more Siren-like than ever.

Satisfied with his discovery, Garret discontinued the examination, turning off the water and grabbing a nearby towel to dry off with. He exited the bathroom with a fresh pair of grey briefs slapped on, glancing at the nearby clock that read 40:56. Acute darkness had slowly risen over the horizon of the settlement, stars beginning to twinkle in like small specks of snow on a black canvas as the day faded.

The small wisps of Gaige's breathing filled the quiet room, interrupted ever so slightly by Garret as he slipped under the newly acquired blanket. He shifted and scooted closer the girl, gently hugging his stomach to the small of her back as he formed the big spoon of the two. A small grunt came from the young woman in reply as the youth wrapped his phased arm over her mechanical one, small scrapes silencing as he put it to rest. Outside the window, another seasoning of snow had begun falling, adding to the large tufts and banks that had already formed across the street.

Slowly, his greyed eyes began to flutter, the mixture of frigid winter air and the failing warmth of the heater rocking him ever so slightly towards slumber. Not even a full minute had passed before he fell into rest, his breath brushing against the Mechromancer's cheek every exhale.

The illuminated darkness of Pandora could only pass overhead for so long before Garret was shunted out of his stagnation, ripped from unconsciousness only to be plunged into a nauseating sense of uneasiness. He slowly detached his moistened body from Gaige, leaving behind a small layer of cold sweat. He was unsure of what could rip him from his rest so easily, wiping his brow and slowly sitting up from the bed.

Elpis loomed above the clouds, the moon's magma filled canyons glowing under the overwhelming shadow of Jack's moon base. Stars glimmered around the pale sphere, showering Sanctuary's snow covered buildings with a pastel light. Garret turned from the window's view and slipped his feet out of the bed, the frigid concrete floor waiting to numb his toes. He stood and walked to the bathroom, washing off his face and toweling off the rest of the sweat that had covered his frame.

Only a couple of hours had passed during Garret's slumber as he checked the clock, opting to put on his grey cargos and a black shirt with his brown boots to follow. Silently, the teen crept out of the room, shutting the door with a silent click. He donned a heavy brown cloak and trudged down the stairs, opening the doors to the frigid atmosphere. The snow could only crunch under the youth's boots as he trudged onwards towards Moxxi's, guided by a hint of intuition.

Specks of snow flew as Garret stamped his boots on a comical "Fuck off" doormat and opened the large back-door to the bar, curious to see who would be occupying it. Immediately, he was greeted with a lungful of tobacco smoke and other vapours, causing him to cough just a bit. Excluding the darkened lights of the dart room and slot machine, the bar was wholly unchanged.

Heller sat opposite of her usual position in the bar, her top-hat and gold-lined royal blue jacket set upon the coat hanger. She took a slow sip of something dark red, turning towards the boy. "Hey kiddo…" she muttered, picking up a cigar from the table. "Why don't you grab a drink?" insisted the woman, delightfully puffing smoke into the air. Garret nodded, standing there silently before hanging up his cloak and strolling into the diner area.

"Ey gringo!" boomed Salvador, sitting beside a shirtless Axton and a small stack of dirty plates. Various bottles and unlabeled jugs lined the table, and a multitude of cups along with them. The other tables at the diner held a wide range of citizens, many of them unconscious, drunk or plain old high. But the mood wasn't a happy one, Garret could tell easily just by regarding the sullen faces of those in question.

He shifted his gaze towards another table opposite of Salvador's, spotting Krieg. As far as the teen could tell, he was asleep, his one eye closed and a drunken Maya caught in his embrace. He would not bother waking the two, spotting the empty bottles on the table.

Garret sat himself down in front of Axton and the Gunzerker, snatching a random bottle and filling up the cup that stood in front of him. The scent of the liquid was heavy, with a brisk punch to it as the youth downed the cup, grunting at the sting as he realized it was vodka.

"So what brings you to our humble abode thirrrr?" asked the commando, a tinge of alcohol-induced comedy lining his voice. "Couldn't sleep sarge" responded Garret, eyeing Zero and his cracked face mask over at the bar. He turned his view back to the two, realising that the short Pandoran was lightly bandaged and Axton himself had a fresh scar over his left pectoral.

"You guys look like shit." stated the youth, picking up the revolting scent of burnt flesh from Salvador. The mercenary chuckled at the words, responding with his own "yeah, didn't have the best day today." "I can see that" replied Garret, taking a sip of his vodka. "And I assume you guys were with Roland, before he, uh, got killed?"

"Yup" replied Sal in between his sips. "Jack got Lilith too" added Axton, unconflicted yet unhappy with the ordeal. The commando reached for his drink, but paused and instead stretched for the ashtray, picking up a dirtied roll of paper and nonchalantly placing it in his mouth.

Garret could hear Moxxi leave her seat and approach, pulling out a brass lighter and briefly torching the joint before Axton took an extensive hit. "Thanks killer" said the military man in response. She flipped the lighter closed and nudged the boy with her hip. He scooted over in response before she sat down.

"She's not dead." objected the short Pandoran, awaiting his hit. "Just captured." Added Zero from his spot at the bar.

The youth nodded, pouring something else into his cup. "Ooh, I just hope you boys get her back right. Be a real shame to lose another one." spoke Heller, laying her head on the table. She nodded at Garret and tilted her head back, asking him to loosen her corset.

A sigh of comfort came out of her as the youth looked up from the strings, finding a white roll being offered to him by Sal. He carefully handled the piece and took a pull, filling his lungs full of the noxious fumes. "Good old weed, but border style." revealed Axton, the drug beginning to take effect on him. Garret slowly exhaled the smoke from his mouth, only to sniff up back through his nose as he passed the joint to an awaiting barmaid.

"Yeah? Beats the stuff on E5 at least." said the youth, exhaling the thick smoke.

The others sat back as well, not actively paying attention, but enjoying the hum of his voice instead as they began to doze off for the rest of the night. Rather than passing out himself, Garret chuckled and rose from the padded seat, unsteadily stepping off towards the kitchen. Minutes later he had fully packed a lunch to the best of his ability, consisting of leftovers and a water bottle from the other day. The youth walked back out into the bar, noticing that everyone had fully passed out from the mix of alcohol and smoke fumes.

Garret tapped the auto ventilators as he left, snatching the vapours and smoke from the interior of the room and replacing it with cold fresh air. The door slid shut quietly as he exited, placing himself back outside in the cold streets of the ever floating Sanctuary, albeit a bit high.

As he slipped back into bed for the second time that night, Garret could only ponder what he would discover tomorrow, life confusedly pointing to the mine that his uncle had left him. But the thoughts could only linger for so long, before the boy slipped off back into his slumber with Gaige by his side.


End file.
